


Don't Call Me Angel

by Psyren



Category: Haikyuu!!, Naruto
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, But Kageyama is also a lowkey poet, Complicated Relationships, Feudalism, Fluff, Haikyuu in a Shinobi Life AU, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Kidnapping, M/M, Ninja, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shinobi, Time Travel, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:27:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28666230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psyren/pseuds/Psyren
Summary: Kageyama Tobio is a shinobi who served as head guard to the Tsukishima Family during the reign of the Tsukishima Empire. More specifically, he was charged with protecting the empire's future - Crown Prince Tsukishima Kei. But war has broken out and separated Kageyama from his prince.Tsukishima Kei is the heir to Tsukishima Enterprises and, as a result, has been frequently kidnapped throughout his life. When faced with a premature death, he finds solace in the unlikeliest of places - in a ninja who literally fell from the sky and into Kei's life.But that's just the beginning of a fickle time travel story.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, here's another fic idea instead of completing my other fics XD If you follow those I swear updates are in the works!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy this fic and indulge in this ship with me!!

**Feudal Japan - Fall of the Tsukishima Empire**

The night was cold and unyielding against the two figures disturbing the heavy, unnatural silence. Tsukishima could barely keep up with the pace Kageyama set, his wrist aching from where the shorter man was grabbing it. "T-Tobio- Wait!" Tsukishima planted his feet and wrenched his hand free of his guard.

Kageyama wheeled around, eyes wide and wild. Something Tsukishima wasn't used to seeing on the man's face, even though half of it was usually covered by his mask. Said mask was moving rapidly with his harsh breathing as he stared at his prince. Why had he stopped. They were so close! The lake was just over the cliff edge, they _had_ to keep moving! Before Kageyama could voice any of his frantic thoughts, Tsukishima all but tore the necklace off his neck and shoved it into his hand. It was the sign of the crown prince with the kingdom's seal carved into its centre. 

"Take this." Tsukishima's voice was insistent as he forcibly closed Kageyama's fingers around the pendant. "It's slightly cracked from sparring with Aki-nii," Kageyama didn't miss the cracking of his prince's usually monotone voice around the king's name. "But I _need_ you to have it." The ninja stared dumbfoundedly at the taller male, his long blonde hair adrift with the wind, an otherworldly glow about him from the moonlight silhouetting him. His gaze tracked up and down his prince's figure and Kageyama was hit with the sudden realisation of how exhausted the man was, his yukata torn in several places from their escape. "To keep and remember me."

There was a finality in his voice, a determination in his eyes, that had Kageyama overwhelmed with a sick sinking feeling as his own expression dropped. He closed his fist so tightly around the necklace that the dark green jade pendant cut uncomfortably into the calloused flesh of his palm. "No-"

"You _have_ to go without me."

His soft voice barely reached the dark haired male over the sound of blood rushing in his ears. "NO!" He grabbed his prince's hand fiercely. "Tsukishima-sama! I cannot do that," he pleaded. "I cannot abandon you- I _won't_ abandon you! I swore an oath to you and I will honour it! I will protect you at all costs even if it means sacrificing myse-!" 

"That's an order Tobio!" The words were bellowed as two hands collided firmly with his chest, shoving the shorter male backwards with a strength Kageyama was ignorant to his prince possessing. 

"Tsukishima-sama!" The cry tore from his lips but was drowned out by a deafening explosion and a blinding light that threw him from the cliff and sent him plunging into the depths of the black lake. Water flooded his lungs, his chest burning as he stared at the fading moonlight. 

He'd failed to protect the Tsukishima empire. 

He'd failed to protect Kei. 

He closed his eyes, drowning in his regrets as much as the lake. 

***

**2020 (Without the Pandemic)**

"Tsukishima Kei,"

The aforementioned blonde rolled his eyes at the man he was currently dubbing faceless moronic thug #582.

"Look at what's below your feet." He snapped, jabbing the tip of his knife into the centre of Kei's back, making the blonde's eyes narrow behind his glasses. The wind tousled his short blonde curls as he gazed boredly out off the edge of the towering office building. "If you beg for forgiveness I'll-"

"HAH!" Kei cut the man off with a derisive laugh as he glared over his shoulder at the pathetic excuse for a criminal. "Gimme a break. 'Beg for forgiveness'? The fuck do you think I am." He sneered, turning around. "You're so meek and pathetic, can't even demand a ransom correctly." Kei spat at the man's feet only to find a fist closed around his long neck, the movement forcing him closer to the building's edge. 

Kei hissed, incapable of much else due to the impaired oxygen intake. He could feel the man shaking, but before he could cut him with another demeaning remark, he felt a drop of water land on his cheek. "Wha-" He glanced up in time to witness the sudden downpour despite the startling clarity of the sky. Water and his glasses never mixed well, the result usually him being effectively blinded, but Kei wasn't blind enough that he missed the darkening figure approaching them with concerning speeds. "What the fu-" Kei let out a winded sound, eyes widening comically, as the figure collided with him.

There was a moment where everything seemed to still, followed by a nauseating moment of weightlessness, before the (literal) gravity of the situation caught up with him.

Both Kei's voice and his kidnapper's rung out as the tied blonde reached futily for the building. "WAIT!"

***

Kageyama blinked slowly when the sinking feeling that trapped him was replaced with the sensation of falling. The man inwardly groaned as he blinked his headache away, only to come face to face with achingly familiar hazel eyes that were blown wide with fear and panic. _Tsukishima-sama._ Kageyama's lifetime of training kicked him out of his reverence and he threw an arm out to catch the falling man, the same time he whipped out a grappling glove from seemingly nowhere. 

He was distantly aware of his prince's hands clutching at the front of his shirt as he pulled him into a fierce embrace and slammed the grapple against the side of the building. There was a horrible screeching sound with spark flying as a result of metal colliding with concrete. The blonde curled further into Kageyama's chest to avoid the sound but Kageyama hardly noticed. His sole focus was on stopping them before they made intimate friends with the ground below. 

His body jerked to a sudden stop, his grip around his prince tightening significantly, as the metal claw latched onto a protruding edge of the building with a resounding thunk. Kageyama closed his eyes as he let out a soft sigh of relief before glancing down at the blonde holding onto him so tightly the fabric had torn slightly, revealing more of the lightweight chainmail armour under his uniform. His relief was etched plainly on his face as he watched the man rest his forehead on his shoulder, and felt him breathing shakily as his heartbeat thudded against Kageyama's chest. "Tsukishima-sama," he murmured, his voice back to being void of all emotion and inflection despite his eyes shining with complete and utter relief. 

A relief that faltered when his prince's head snapped up to glare incredulously at him. Kageyama frowned down at the taller man at two things:

1) the complete lack of recognition in his eyes.

2) the odd contraption obscuring his prince's eyes.

Those hazel eyes hardened as they panned from Kageyama to the ground that was a few mere inches away

"Tsukishima-sama-?"

Kageyama grunted indignantly as the blonde's forehead suddenly collided with his face, forcing him to drop the man and clutch his face. He shot the man a glare, though the watering of his eyes killed some of its intensity. "Who the _hell_ are you!?"

"Tsukishima-sama-"

"Don't touch me!" The tall man staggered away from Kageyama's outstretched hand, ignoring the growing crowd. "Who asked you to save me!" He snapped, glowering at the cowing ninja. Kageyama forced himself upright, fists clutched at his sides as a small spot of blood appeared on his mask where his nose was.

"I was just-" Kageyama repressed a conflicted flinch and eye roll at the man's antics. Was the prince always _this_ annoying??

"You fell out of the damn _sky!_ Who are you! _What_ are you!?" The blonde was looking more furious than Kageyama could ever recall seeing directed at him. The ninja glanced around the large crowd with growing concern that resulted in him slapping a hand over his prince's mouth when he opened it again to, undoubtedly, give him another tongue lashing. 

"Forgive my impertinence," He hissed impatiently. "But you need to _stop_ making. A. Scene." He hissed. "People are wat...ching..." He trailed off, hand slipping from the blonde's mouth as he _finally_ took in said crowd. Everyone was so.... weirdly dressed. A deep frown etched its way into Kageyama's face. This place.... This wasn't the forest. He breathed deeply through his nose as he slowly looked around. This.... This wasn't anywhere near the forest! 

Kageyama's entire being tensed. His scanning became somewhat frantic as he tried to discern where they were, ignoring the blonde's yelling and demands with a practiced ease. _Yes._ He thought distantly as he tried to figure out what spell or illusion the enemy must have cast. _Tsukishima-sama was always this annoying._ His panning stopped when he noticed Tsukishima-sama was no longer yelling at, or even looking, at him. Following his gaze, he located a man that was unfortunately subjected to his prince's infamous death glare. His own gaze narrowed suspiciously as the man skulked away. "Tsukishima-sama,"

The man raised his bound hands in a dismissive gesture, expression exasperated. "Forget it. Just," he flippantly gestured to Kageyama. "Get rid of these and get me home." He didn't miss the man's panning glare around the crowd and the whispered, "Vultures." 

Kageyama eyed the man curiously for a moment. There was no doubt this man was his prince. His Tsukishima-sama. But it also wasn't. From the strange clothes he wore. To the way he talked and behaved. And to the loss of his long hair that Kageyama wished he had had the opportunity to carade his fingers through. This man was his prince. But he also wasn't.

"... As you wish." He murmured, taking a knife and expertly severing his bindings before he stepped up to the taller man. He looped a strong arm under his knees and around his back and picked him up bridal style. Tsukishima-sama reflexively threw his arms around Kageyama's neck with an indignant sound that the man ignored. Holding him tighter, Kageyama vanished with him, leaving nothing but an unsettling of dust in their wake. 

***

Kei relented his protesting when it was clear this weirdo wasn't going to let him go any time soon. He was torn between being minorly flattered and majorly annoyed that this guy shorter than him could lift and carry him like he weighed absolutely nothing. _I know I'm thin but this is ridiculous!_ Yet he couldn't fight the slight flush that coloured his pale cheeks as he relaxed against the hard warm body of his saviour. Kei's brows furrowed as he rolled that word over in his mind. _Saviour._ He didn't like that.

"You know," He drawled, dropping head onto the man's shoulder. Said man didn't reply but Kei knew he had his attention. "You didn't have to save me. In fact," his tone was clipped. "You shouldn't have." Kei felt those muscles that lifted him so effortlessly immediately tense and his flush darkened ever so slightly. He really needed to get back into gymming if he was going to stick around.

"Tsukishima-sama." The man's voice was tight as he frowned down at Kei's scowl.

"Don't call me that."

But the blonde was ignored. "Tsukishima-sama, how could you even suggest that." 

Kei raised an eyebrow at the disbelief in the man's voice. 

"I will give my _life_ before I let anything happen to you." His voice took on an irritated tone that irritated Kei in turn.

"I don't even know y-" Kei groaned before huffing out a sigh, rolling his lower lip between his teeth. "You know what, whatever. Forget it."

"Tsukishima-sama-" His voice was exasperated and some parts pleading. 

"I said forget it." He snapped, glowering at the dark haired man. He held Kei's gaze unwaveringly for a long moment before he looked forward and resumed walking. _When had we stopped?_

"As you wish, Tsukishima-sama." The man's voice was carefully monotone for the first time since they met. And since the first time they met, the pair continued on in silence. 

Several streets later, Kei sat up a bit straighter, obnoxiously jabbing the man's chin with the top part of his head. "Oi." He snapped.

"What." The man snapped back.

Kei stared dumbly at him for a moment.

"... Forgive me, I forget my place," he mumbled as he looked away, clearly _not_ sorry.

Kei merely raised an eyebrow. "This is us." He motioned with a jab of his head at the house on the end of the street.

Kageyama nodded wordlessly and started down the street until Kei suddenly shoved him. 

"Wait!" He hissed softly yet urgently.

"What now??"

Kei met his glare with a withering one of his own, scowl deepening when the man didn't so much as flinch. 

"Put me down."

"What."

"Put me down!" He shoved the man's chest again as if that would be enough to make him drop him. But the ninja only tightened his grip. 

"No." He said firmly and finally.

"I swear to god-"

"You're injured." He insisted, temper back under control.

"No I am not!" _Thanks to you._ Kei's emotional control was faring less well. "Put me down _now._ I refuse to be carried into the damn building."

"But-"

"Put. Me. _Down._ "

Kei was surprised to see a flicker of anger in those dark blue eyes, but he couldn't be sure. There one moment, gone the next. The ninja set Kei down, only letting him go when he was sure he was standing firmly. Despite the care the man took putting Kei down, Kei roughly shoved him off. 

"I said I'm fine." he mumbled. But trust the man to not even make it two steps before his knees buckled with such a startling suddenness that he had no time to make any sounds of surprise. _Great._ He screwed his eyes shut, bracing for an impact that never came. Instead of concrete, his chest collided with something significantly warmer, softer, yet equally firm. "Wha-" Reluctantly opening his eyes, his gaze fell upon the side of the man's head, allowing him a moment to drink in his profile before his pride forced him to look away. Fighting down a blush he bit out, "Thanks."

The man gave a noncommittal hum. "I told you you were injured." His voice was soft, borderline tender, but Kei didn't comment. Just let the man's firm calloused hands slide under his thighs down to the back of his knees before hoisting up onto his back. 

Tsukishima Kei did _not_ get goosebumps.

The man paused, giving Kei a moment to wrap his arms around his neck, before tightening his grip on his legs and heading towards the house.

"Oi!" He barked, pulling himself up straighter against the man's solid back. "I'm back open up!" He felt the man jump ever so slightly when the doors slid open of their own accord. 

"That's... Is this the right mansion?"

Kei raised an eyebrow as he shifted around to peer at the man. "Yes?"

"It looks... so different."

Kei let out an amused huff and nudged the man with his heel, the same way one would a horse. "C'mon. In we go."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama refuses to accept his prince doesn't remember him.

Kageyama was certain now. This was _not_ the mansion. Nor was that the head servant he had grown close with once upon a time. In the place of the towering, powerful yet gentle figure of Ushijima, stood a petite woman who, at most, reached 5 ft nothing. She wore a uniform of sorts, coloured black and white, but had a strange somewhat revealing design, just like everything else in this place.

"Tsukishima-san-!"

"-Sama."

"... P-Pardon?"

Kageyama glowered down at the woman. While she was young, he would hazard a guess she was older than the both of them. "You will address him with the proper respect."

The blonde loosed an exasperated groan from beyond his peripheral vision. 

"His name is Tsukishima-sama and you will address him as such." His voice was cold and biting, leaving no room for any refutes. 

"R-Right." She mumbled, glancing downwards. Her short hair, oddly spiked at the ends, fell around her face. Though her tone conveyed shame, her eyes read something.... else. Something that had Kageyama remaining stubbornly and protectively in front of his prince upon putting him down. Kageyama had learned the long way to never easily trust a sweet face.

"Chino," the blonde drawled, leaning easily on Kageyama. "I'm almost curious," Kageyama chanced a glance at his prince and found a light smile on his lips that didn't meet his hazel eyes that held a clear threat. "You sound surprised to see me." The polite curiousness of his voice did nothing to stop the chill passing through the small woman. 

"Forgive me," She stammered quickly. Kageyama's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Too quickly for his liking. "I am surprised at your...." She trailed off, gaze fixed on Kageyama. She let the rest of her question hang in the air, not finishing it for fear of overstepping.

The blonde raised a single delicate brow. " _You're_ surprised huh? Well I-"

" _KEI!_ "

Kageyama's head whipped around to face the source of the bellowing voice that _dared_ to use his prince's name so casually. 

"Tch." The sharp click of the taller man's tongue preceded the entrance of the other of the voice. A man around Kageyama's own height with short dark hair and dark eyes, completely unlike the prince, and an 'X' scarred into his chin, rounded the corner. 

"You weren't home these past two days." He snapped.

The blonde rolled his eyes as he spat back, "Like you suddenly care _father_."

Kageyama's eyes blew wide open as he looked between them. Out of all the things that _did not make sense_ here, this one took top place. Because that man was not the king. Dark blue eyes narrowed dangerously, lips curling into a snarl beneath his mask. 

_Imposter._

He was broader than Tsukishima-sama, more muscle packed onto his frame compared to the somewhat delicate nature of the blonde.

"Kei," His tone was equal parts angry and exasperated. 

"You know," He cut in with a flippant wave of his hand, walking from Kageyama to invade the other man's space. "I was just kidnapped and I would've died." The taller man punctuated his sentence with a jab to his father's chest. "Because of you."

The older of the two didn't even blink, but Kageyama had been a ninja long enough to detect even the subtlest killing intent. He stepped closer to flank Tsukishima-sama, drawing the gaze of the imposter king.

Tsukishima-sama watched his father's gaze slide from him to the man just behind him. "What? This guy?" He snorted, cold and derisive. "He's weird alright, but he saved my life no thanks to you."

Kageyama met the imposter king's gaze evenly. He even tilted his chin upwards minutely in refusal to be slighted. 

The man gave him several once overs. "So..." He drawled and Kageyama was struck by how similar the tone was to Tsukishima-sama's. "You protected Kei?"

Kageyama responded with a curt nod. "I have sworn an oath to devote my life to protecting Tsukishima-sama."

"-Sama!?" The man barked out a viciously spiteful laugh. "You sing him praises he doesn't deserve. Are you a gambling man....?"

"Kageyama. And no."

"Shame." The man hummed, crossing his arms. Despite being weathered with age, Kageyama could see the strength in the muscles of his forearms that did not come from a domestic life. "I was going to suggest we make a bet on how long you'd stick around. Kei," He was no longer looking at Kageyama, but back at his prince. "Is more trouble than he's worth. So much so she killed herself-"

"She killed herself because of **you**!" The blonde's voice was dripping with unfiltered rage. "You killed her! And I will make you see, that she died because of _you_!"

"If she committed suicide," Kageyama growled under his breath as the man shoved past Tsukishima-sama, all but throwing him into Kageyama who steadied him. "Then don't push the blame on me."

With their backs to each other, Tsukishima-sama whispered, "I can't stand to live in a world with you,"

"Then don't-"

"But I refuse to kill myself!" He whirled away from Kageyama to fix the man's back with his fiercest glare. Even though he wasn't looking at him, it still caused him to pause. "I will never kill myself until you know suffering. Until you have suffered like we have suffered."

Kageyama felt pulled with the need to comfort the man as the blonde's voice became thick with emotion. 

"You will suffer Danzou."

The silence was thick, the promise heavy, yet the man - Danzou - said nothing as he swept out the room.

***

"Tsukishima-sama."

The blonde blinked away the daze that had consumed him, eyes refocusing on the floorboards he'd zoned out staring at. ".....Hm?" he managed with an exhausted exhale. 

"What are you looking at?"

Kei tossed his head back as he lounged on the uncomfortable chair, flicking blonde curls out of his face. He ran his fingers through the strands and grimaced. He really needed a shower after that whole kidnapping endeavor. Remembering Kageyama was waiting for an answer he loosed another weary sigh. "It's... -sigh- it's nothing, Kageyama." he murmured, the man's name being added as almost an afterthought. "Sorry you had to see that."

There was a long moment of silence, eventually broken by the ninja. "Is that man really the king?"

Kei's glance became a full on stare as he whipped around to look at the man. "Kin-? What have you been smoking?"

When Kageyama didn't reply, Kei sighed again. He silently chided himself for snapping at the man. The weirdo kept calling him prince, so naturally he'd assume his father was the king. Right? Right.

"Danzou is really my father, if that's what you mean."

"You do not refer to him as such." It was a statement instead of a question, accompanied by a pointedly arched brow.

Kei raised a slim blonde brow in turn. "I do not think of him as such."

"What happened to Akiteru-sama?"

Kei's double take was so hard he grimaced and clutched at the part of his neck just below his hairline. 

"Tsukishima-sama?" 

Kei pushed away his fussing hands, ignoring the concern in his voice that did not match his expression. "I'm _fine_." He snapped, glowering at Kageyama who merely glowered back. "It's just a pinched nerve is all." he mumbled, shrugging him off.

Kageyama, for once, took the dismissal and stood back while Kei took a moment to collect himself after the unexpected influx of shock, sadness, and explicable rage. 

"Akiteru was my older brother." He murmured after several minutes, his eyes once again taking on the distant glassiness. 

"... Was?" The ninja prompted when it looked like Kei was going to leave it there. 

His eyes tightened with a glare before he rubbed them under his glasses. "Was." He confirmed. The taller man sat forward, forearms resting on his knees, slim fingers clasped together. He fiddled with a signet ring on his forefinger. It bore the kanji for 'autumn' and 'bright' - Akiteru.

Kei let his head hang, physically feeling as though the weight of the world was bearing down on his broad shoulders. "It was a kidnapping incident gone wrong. I was 11. He was 17. Danzou started changing after that."

Kei grit his teeth so hard his jaw ached. His father lost his eldest and favourite son but it gave him _no right_ to behave how he did. How he has been. His mother also lost a son. Kei lost a brother. Kei also believed Danzou lost a wife long before Kei lost his mother.

He jumped this time when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Head snapping up he came face to face with the dark blue eyes of his bodyguard. His expression was still tight and stony but his eyes were soft and.... empathetic? Kei was surprised to not see sympathy. 

His nose twitched as it was suddenly struck with a strong scent of iron that he was certain hadn't been there before. Hazel eyes darkened as he pressed his tongue to the back of his top teeth, willing the nauseous feeling away. _Blood_. 

Kei's gaze fell on the hand that wasn't gripping his shoulder firmly as his eyes narrowed further. _Blood._

"I'm sorry, Tsukishima-sama. Akiteru-sama was-" But Kei couldn't stand talking about his brother.

"You're hurt." He deflected, vacantly wondering about the man's use of his brother's first name but not his.

"No I'm not."

He gaped at the blunt, fully serious response from the man.

"Y... Yes you are!" He stood suddenly, knocking Kageyama's hand from his shoulder as his chair scraped against the wooden floor. "Show me."

"Tsukishima-sama, you mustn't concern yourself with something so small-"

"Kageyama." Kei bit out, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. "Show me."

_"I-I'm fine Kei. *cough* It's nothing really."_

_"But nii-san! You're hurt!"_

"That's an order." There was a long pause before Kageyama silently inclined his head, acquiescing.

Kei glanced away as Kageyama began to undress, trying to give the man some semblance of privacy. He scowled as the smell of blood became stronger. 

He hated blood.

_The image was so vivid and graphic it haunted Kei to this day. Akiteru stumbling down their hallways in the dead of night, shirt covered in blood and spilling over his fingers where it was pressed to his abdomen._

_The feel of his blood, hot and sticky where Akiteru had put his hand on the back of Kei's head to pull their foreheads together. A feeling Kei couldn't get rid of no matter how many times or how hard he scrubbed his hair._

_The nauseating stench of blood on his brother's breath as he dared to smile at him and_ lie _._

_"I'll be okay. So go back to bed."_

_And like a fool, Kei had._

_Never again_ he promised in his mind as he turned back to Kageyama. _Never again._

_***_

__Drawn from his reminiscing, Kei's eyes blew wide open as his gaze settled on Kageyama's bare torso._ _

The man was absolutely shredded. He wasn't bulky like the body builders Kei had encountered when he had gone to the gym, but he was toned beyond all hell. Strong shoulders that gave way to muscular arms, a solid chest with firm pectoral muscles and abdominals that would put aforementioned body builders to shame.

But seeing that wasn't what surprised Kei. He gathered as much through the man's clothes when he was being carried. What surprised him was the plethora of large, jagged scars covering the man's tan skin. 

_What.... What is this...._

Kei blatantly stared, taking in each scar as the weight of what they meant , as the realisation of what this man had likely been through, settled in. They covered his torso, front and back, and spanned down his arms. 

"Kageyama... You..."

But the man wasn't looking at him. Blue eyes gazed fiercely and uncertainty at the floor, his shirt clutched tightly in his fist.

Kei pressed his lips together, turning sharply on the ball of his foot to get the first aid kit. "These," He murmured as he returned with the box. "These healed naturally, didn't they?"

Kageyama said nothing, expression completely unchanging as Kei cleaned the deep grazes on his arm. But, as Kei realised it was the arm that had latched onto the building when they were falling, he also didn't need an answer. Surgical scars would have healed cleanly. They would've looked more clinical and not so.... brutal.

"Oi." he hummed gruffly as he wrapped the bandage around his arm.

"What." Kageyama groused back.

"Thank you." he murmured, eyes focused on his task. "For saving my life. But, you don't need to do that anymore." He sat back on his heels, packing the first aid kit again. His entire posture was tense and he could feel the ache in his chest. He screwed his eyes shut briefly as if that could will the rising feeling of guilt away. 

"Tsukishima-sama," Kageyama began tersely.

Kei merely held up a hand to silence him. "You got hurt."

"Tsukishima-sama this is nothin-"

"It is something!" Kei snapped, throwing Kageyama's hand off him and glaring at him, eyes burning with the familiar sensation of unbridled tears. "You're hurt!" Kei stood so suddenly that the action actually forced Kageyama to step back.

His pulse was deafening in his ears, his palms hot and clammy as his fingers clenched and unclenched, his nails biting into the soft skin.

"You got hurt. Because of me." He looked away from Kageyama's bewildered expression, a flush washing over his pale skin as shame crashed into him. "No one should get hurt because of me." The words were mumbled as all fight seemed to flood of him as quickly as it had into him. His hands hung limply by his sides before he sunk back to the floor, arms wrapped around his knees.

***

Kageyama stared at the man on the floor. He had seen the man exhibit a variety of emotions of the many years tha he's served him but he's never seen Tsukishima Kei look so...

_Broken._

Kageyama grimaced. He'd never been good with feelings. Even though Tanaka-senpai and Sugawara-dono had been working on it with him before the kingdom went to chaos, he still felt like a stilted mess. 

He crouched down in front of his prince and took his hands firmly, because Kageyama was rarely one for gentleness, and unwound the man's arms to pull him up. "Tsukishima-sama," His gaze and grip tightened when the man refused to look at him and tried to pull away. "Tsukishima-sama." he repeated, voice clipped.

"What." The blonde snapped back.

Kageyama held hsi angry hazel gaze. "I swore an oath. To you and your family. That I would protect you at all costs." He watched as those hazel eyes darkened further. "Even, if it means giving my life." he emphasised.

"Are you an idiot! No one should die for me-!"

"I will to keep you safe!" Kageyama stared incredulously at the man, loosening his grip on his hands but still not letting him pull away. "Have... Have you really forgotten our promises?" But he already knew the answer. This man remembered nothing. Otherwise he'd remember the siege that gave him his worst scars. "Or what you gave me by the lake?"

Kageyama knew better, but he still couldn't keep the traces of hope from his voice. 

"That person in your memories, it isn't me." the taller man murmured as he finally pulled his hands free. "So no. I don't."

Kageyama thinned his lips before sighing. "Well, let me remind you what _I_ told you that night." His tongue darted out, wetting his lips before pressing them together and loosing a loud whistle with a very distinct melody. "No matter where you are, whistle that tune," _Our tune._ "And I will come to you. No matter what."

His earnest, somewhat hopeful gaze held Tsukishima-sama's steadily.

"Kageyama," he murmured quietly.

"Yes my prince?"

"... I don't know how to whistle."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things usually get going by the third season, the third episode, or the third book. In this case, it's the third chapter. Kei is only beginning to properly acknowledge how powerless he is, but will he finally accept the help offered to change that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I did mean to end it there, no I'm not sorry XD
> 
> This was fun to right ngl XD As a result this chapter also basically wrote itself XD For all my Kags fans I will say this chapter is a very Tsuki-centric chapter. I'll make up for it in the next one I promise!
> 
> Anyway, thank you to everyone who commented, dropped a kudo, and even just took the time to read this self indulgent fic! Hope you enjoy the latest installment!

Kei loosed a long suffering sigh as he finished dressing, pulling on his black jacket lined with obnoxious orange seams.

_Uni is so troublesome._

He looked up at the sound of his ninja's voice, the man wandering in from his post just beyond the bedroom door.

"Something has been on my mind, Tsukishima-sama."

Kei merely hummed in acknowledgment and Kageyama took the signal for what it was and continued.

"That servant lady yesterday-" 

"Chino?" Kei didn't keep the surprise from his voice as he finally looked over, adjusting his tie. 

Kageyama briefly inclined his head. "Mm. She seemed very surprised to see you-"

Kei cut him off with a snort. "At me huh? Are you sure she wasn't surprised at seeing you?"

"Sir-"

"Speaking of," Kei cut him off again, thumbing his chin. "If you plan on guarding me beyond the house, we _really_ need to do something about your clothes."

Kei raised an eyebrow at the downright indignant expression on Kageyama's face. "Tsukishima-sama! How could you suggest such a thing?" He asked, incredulous. Kei's eyebrow rose higher on his forehead. "This is the uniform for all shinobi-"

"We don't have shinobi here!" Kei snapped back, matching Kageyama glare for glare. " _This_!" he groused with a wild gesture at the man. "This is what will make you stand out! Geez," he palmed his face. "Aren't you ninja's meant to be all about secrecy and adaptability." It wasn't a question and Kei allowed himself a small, smug smile as Kageyama deflated. The man had him there.

He watched the ninja glower at an unfortunate spot on the ground, hands clenching at his sides. Kei's amusement at the man's obvious displeasure rose as his silence persisted. After a long moment Kageyama deflated with a sigh. "Fine." He all but snapped. "I will wear these impractical clothes of this place if it will help me protect you better."

Kei rolled his eyes. "You don't need to protect me." He growled under his breath. He didn't doubt that the man had heard it, but if he did, he gave no indication. Kei sighed heavily again and wandered over to his closet. "I'm sure something of mine will fit you."

The suddenness of the man's movement was enough to cut him off, startling Kei enough that his hand jumped off the handle of the cupboard door - not that he'd ever admit that.

"No!"

"What _now_!?"

"Tsukishima-sama I _cannot_ wear your clothes!" The dark haired man protested. "Those are the royal garments I can't- mmph!" 

Kei flushed at the sheer ridiculousness of what was coming out of the man's mouth and slapped a hand over the offending part of his face. "Don't be ridiculous, just wear what I give you for god's sake!" He yelled as he grappled with Kageyama, trying to shove his face away while the man grabbed his wrists.

"I refuse!"

***

"Chino are you done yet!?" The blonde called, checking his watch impatiently from the hallway.

"A-Almost!"

Kei rolled his eyes and walked back into his bedroom. "Well hurry up, I'm already running late." He snapped. Kei's patience was short enough on a good day. Being late and having to deal with Kageyama brough that patience down to practically nil.

Kei stepped into the room as Kageyama was tucking what he presumed was a necklace into his collar. "This stays." The man said to Chino, something dark bleeding into his normally (surprisingly) neutral aura, that had the woman flinching back. 

"O-Okay."

It even gave Kei reason to pause, if only for a moment, before the man turned to him and Kei properly took in his appearance. The man was dressed in rather nondescript clothing, but still. Kei could hardly do anything but _stare._

Kei's spare black jeans hugged the shorter man's legs tightly, outlining each line of powerful muscle. They were rolled at the ankle to account for Kageyama's legs being shorter than Kei's, though that was hidden by black ankle boots Kei hardly wore. Panning his gaze upwards, Kageyama was wearing an oversized black and white striped shirt that still managed to hug the muscles on his chest, the stripes making his figure look broader somehow. And the look was completed by Kei's oversized coat. It fell just short of reaching the back of Kageyama's knees and he watched the man roll the sleeves of the dark grey garment up to his elbows, showing off wiry and defined forearms. 

The blonde begrudgingly admitted to himself, that the man looked _good._

"Do I _have_ to wear this?"

Kei's frown deepened as he grabbed the man by his elbow and pulled him away. "Like you have a choice."

Neither Kei nor Kageyama looked back when Chino greeted them at the gates of the compound. And as a result, neither noticed the contemptuous look that pierced their backs.

***

"No! God- I can't do it!" The blonde thug from before, a boy barely a man, named Yahiko yelled into the phone. "He- He's nuts!" Pressing a knuckle into his forehead the pierced blondie dropped onto a worn chair. "He told me to hurt him. _Told_ me! And some shit like to cut off her ear to send to her father! The kid's sick!"

The female on the other end of the line huffed an annoyed sigh into the phone. "We've been _over_ this Yahiko. He's used to it. Kidnapped since ten. I told you this all before." She snapped, glowering at the phone.

Yahiko winced on the other end, looking sufficiently chastised even though Chino couldn't see him. "Hey-" He tried again, tone protesting.

"Shut it."

Yahiko's mouth closed so quickly his teeth clacked audibly, heard over the phone.

"You have one more chance. And when you kidnap him you have to go about it with the intent to kill him-"

"NO! For God's sake I can't! Sides he already knows what I look like!"

But the woman ignored his dissension. "One day Yahiko." Her tone left no room for argument. 

But Yahiko didn't care. "Kidnap him yourself, Chino."

***

Kei _refused_ to look away from his desk. He yanked his hood as far as possible over his head and pulled the drawstring _tight_ to hide his face before dropping his face onto the desk with a resounding thunk. But not even the loud noise could draw his classmates attention from what was decidedly the biggest bane of Kei's existence.

_Fucking. Kageyama._

"Excuse me sir!" His lecturer, a bespectacled man named Takeda, called as all eyes fixed on Kageyama who was, very 'inconspicuously', hanging from the godDAMN CEILING! "Are you Tsukishima-san's relative?" 

_Takeda-sensei has the patience of a goddamn fucking angel._

"Yes." came the stoic man's reply.

"And, uh, what is it that you..... do?" He said with a not so subtle gesture to the man casually defying gravity. 

The man blinked and deadpanned, "Magic."

There was a moment of silence before murmurs and snickers broke out through the crowd. 

"Well, uh, please feel free to take a seat?"

For once Kageyama did as asked, dropping from his little ceiling corner. "As you wish." But the man did not sit, instead stood behind Kei's seat. 

Kei. Wanted to Die. 

The not so whispered whispers reached his ears as they normally did, despite him sitting by himself in the large lecture theatre. 

_"That's so random."_

_"Why the hell does he get special treatment?"_

_"He thinks he's all that but god he's so not."_

_"Rich kids am I right?"_

_"Oh yeah, his fam donates a fuck ton to the uni don't they."_

_"Ugh what a suck up."_

_"I know right. Bet you he's not even actually that smart, buying his grades,"_

_"Hah!"_

_"Can't believe they asked us to try and be friends with him. He never talks to us anyway."_

_"Fucking stuck up rich boys."_

_"_ _Ice King. " _

Kei removed his hood and sat up straight, squaring his shoulders and looking resolutely ahead, his face a carefully crafted neutral mask. _That's right_. Kei didn't care what they thought. He didn't care what anybody thought of him.

If it's an ice king they wanted, then an Ice King they'd get.

***

Kageyama stood just off to the side behind Tsukishima-sama, keeping a watchful eye out as the man ate his lunch on campus. His gaze snapped back over to the blonde when the man's cup hit the table with a clunk. 

"Kageyama." The man's voice was as close to yelling as it could be without the man actually yelling. He took in the tension in his prince's body, his white knuckle grip on his mug and utensils, and the way his head was bowed as though he was bearing the weight of the world. 

"... Yes, Tsukishima-sama?"

"I need you to _stop_ drawing attention. It's annoying."

"Sir?"

"So," He offered Kageyama a smile that the ninja could _immediately_ tell was fake. "Either sit with me, or leave."

"Tsukishima-sama I can't sit as your equal-!"

"THEN LEAVE!" He bellowed, slamming his hands on the table as he wheeled around. 

Kageyama took a startled step back as he was confronted with dark hazel eyes _blazing_ with anger, but his expression merely hardened in turn. "Tsukishima-sama please-" he insisted.

But the man didn't let him get another word in edgewise - he never did when he was like this - and stormed out of the mercifully empty courtyard into the street. 

"Tsukishima-sama _stop_!" His hand lashed out and grabbed the man by the upper arm only to be struck in a startled, furious retaliation from the blonde as he whipped around.

"Don't touch me!!"

Kageyama's face stung from where he'd been struck, his expression dangerously blank. His prince had never struck him before outside of their spars. He let go of the man as if it burned him to keep hold of him. 

_This isn't my prince._

"I'm _used_ to being alone." He hissed. The tension faded so suddenly the man looked as though he could collapse under the weight of his thoughts, but Kageyama made no move to steady him. "Don't make things any harder."

The only change in the ninja's expression was the man pressing his lips together into a thin line. As much as the man tried to, Tsukishima's emotions were always worn on his sleeves. But no one apparently bothered to get close enough to notice.

_Ice King._

Kageyama scowled, his anger mounting so suddenly he barely managed to restrain his killing intent before unintentionally subjecting his prince to it. "You are not an ice king, Tsukishima-sama."

The man's head snapped to him, his gaze fierce yet wary. "Don't. Even go there Kageyama. Because what the fuck do you know."

"Tsukishima-sama, stop-" And suddenly Kageyama was looking at _his_ prince, the man in front of him silhouetted by a vision of the man Kageyama left behind, his phantom long hair drifting in the breeze. The man who shrouded himself in barbs to protect something more precious than even the richest of treasures. Kageyama huffed a soft sigh. He was repeating the words he'd told his prince. Because of course they had had this conversation before. "Stop thinking you deserve to be alone."

The blonde wet his lips before pressing them together. He locked Kageyama with an ice cold gaze, devoid of all emotion. No, not devoid. Guarded. "Kageyama, I'm not your friend."

The older man's lips quirked into something reminiscent of a sad smile. "I never could change your mind could I." He watched as Tsukishima's eyes tracked his hands as he reached into the collar of his shirt and tugged his necklace off. He watched those cautious hazel eyes widen in surprise as he pulled a worn jade crescent moon from his shirt. 

"That.... That's my...."

Kageyama nodded, gazing down at it in his palm, his expression unreadable. "Mm. You gave it to me when we parted, to help me remember you by. So I return it to you, to help you remember me by." His calloused hand trailed up his prince's significantly softer hands before he turned the palm up and pressed the pendant into his hand. "To respect your wishes, your humble servant will be leaving now." He murmured. This man was his prince, but he also wasn't. He couldn't bullhead him into changing his mind because as much as it pained Kageyama to acknowledge, they didn't have a shared history.

They were no better than strangers. But still, "You will always be my prince."

Unable to help himself, he caressed a lock of short blonde hair before vanishing in a swirl of leaves and his voice on the breeze.

_"Until next time, Tsukishima-sama."_

_***_

Kei stared at the pendant in his hand, eyes narrowing to get a good look at it and subsequently froze. "This is-"

_"Mama, mama! Whatcha lookin at!?"_

_The blonde woman looked up from the scroll unrolled on the floor and offered the young child a warm smile. "This is the Tsukishima-family tree Kei-chan. If you look here, you are supposedly descended from a prince," She said, voice hushed yet filled with wonder as she mischievously enjoyed the way her son's eyes lit up._

_"OOH! Really?? Where where?"_

_The woman softly chuckled and guided her son's eager gaze to a point very early on the tree. "Here. Prince Tsukishima Kei."_

_"That's my name!"_

_She chuckled again. "That's right love. You were named for him. Apparently," She pulled a necklace out of her shirt and took the pendant off. "This is the very same necklace he wore. It's been passed down through our family for generations."_

_Kei stared at the green crescent moon with rapt fascination before staring up excitedly at his mother. "Can I keep it? Really?"_

_"Really really."_

_Kei grinned and eagerly put it on, never to take it off again._

Until now. 

Kei hastily pulled his out, fingers fumbling as he felt his body temperature rise with his shock and panic. "Wha-" He held the two necklaces side by side.

They were identical. 

"Down to the last fucking crack," he whispered. His thoughts were running a million miles an hour before they came careening to a screeching halt.

_Kageyama wasn't lying._

Knowing things he shouldn't know, about him, about his family. The Tsukishima-sama he kept referring to really was the crown prince from history. But....

But no. It was _impossible._ Time travel wasn't possible, it was a ridiculous theory and yet... yet... Kei was a realist. He wanted to deny it and vehemently so. But as Kei watched _his_ necklace disappear and only Kageyama's remained those same realistic machinations that got him through life so far forced him to acknowledge that everything just clicked into place. Everything. Made. Sense. 

He needed to find Kageyama.

_ Now. _

But how does one find a man, let alone a ninja, who doesn't want to be found?

***

Kei's feet flew across the pavement, long strides carrying him at a pace he hadn't used in a long time. He hadn't had the urgency to get anywhere in a dead sprint. 

"CHINO!" He barked, spittle flecking off his lips, expression and demeanour wild enough to startle the short woman.

"S-Sir!" She stammered.

"Car now! We need to find Kageyama _now_!"

"I thought he was with yo-"

"NOW WOMAN!"

The man was rarely ever furious, much more even tempered than his father, so as a result Chino flinched violently. But as Kei wheeled around, racing to the car he once again missed the loathsome glare following the back of his skull.

***

The blonde had barely clasped the door handle when he felt a hand on the back of his head. The moment was brief, but Kei could feel the small size of the hand, the slimness of the fingers, and the sharp nails pricking the back of his skull before it tore into his curls and shoved his head forward into the car door.

There was a sickening crack, a flash of blinding pain, and suddenly, everything was red.

Kei dropped to his knees, as his glasses fell from his face. His hand latched onto his face over his eyes, his fingers and hair warm and sticky with blood. The man was suddenly overcome with the _overwhelming_ urge to vomit.

But he never got the chance before the hand in his hair yanked his head back with such brutal force and speed that Kei's body was forced to follow the motion lest he break his neck. His back slammed onto the tarmac of the driveway, an agonised grunt forced from him as he was winded.

Without his glasses and through the haze of red, Kei was all but blind and it sent his other senses into overdrive. He was all too aware of the sudden body that dropped on top of him to pin him down with the weight alone, knees pinning his wrists to the floor. Before he could yell anything else, he was being smothered.

It was one thing to be suffocated.

It was another thing to be suffocated while pinned and blind.

Every time he tried to move those bony knees dug painfully into his wrists. 

Every time he tried to thrash about and use his larger body to throw his smaller assailant off he was grabbed by his collar and slammed into the ground. Whoever his attacker was, was very skilled compared to him.

_Fuck!_

Suffocating was a _horrible_ way to go. All Kei could hear, could feel, was his pulse growing louder, more erratic in his rib cage. His lungs burned as he desperately threw his body weight around to try and free himself from whatever was blocking his airways.

But between what was most likely a thick cloth over his airways and the concrete he kept getting slammed into, Kei's vision was overtaken by dark spots.

And as suddenly as the assault started, everything just as suddenly cut from red to black.

***

.... _Kageyama..._

***

Trust his luck, to have sent away the only person who could, and _would_ help him. Kei cursed viciously under his breath as he curled up so he could tuck his knees under him and sit up.

The exhausted blonde collapsed against a way off the shoddy apartment room he was in and tugged at his wrist restraints away from prying eyes. He was honestly amazed he didn't have permanent bruises on his wrists since this was such an annoyingly common occurrence.

He rested his head back on the wall, eyebrows raising in brief surprise when he encountered a window sill instead. When he finally deigned to open his eyes, Kei immediately slammed them shut, a savage headache tearing his skull jaggedly in two.

"Fuck's sake," he hissed before he heard a door click open and two sets of footsteps enter.

"Oh look. You're awake."

Kei _immediately_ recognised that voice even if he had never heard it speak in such a disrespectful drawl. He huffed out an exasperated laugh as he opened his eyes to look at the ceiling. Only, while half of his vision was unsurprisingly blurry, the other half was surprisingly black. "Chino," He drawled back, evenly matching her disrespect, if not more so. "So you're telling me Danzou is actively hiring kidnappers now? And he says he doesn't wants me dead." Even as he attempted to deflect, he was rapidly running through every interaction he'd ever had with the woman and he came to a resounding conclusion.

 _Bitch was one_ hell _of an actress._

"Your father has no such inclination. My dislike for you, brat," She hissed before lighting up a cigarette. "Is entirely your own doing."

"Wha-"

"Yahiko get the fridge."

"What?" Kei finally turned his head to look at the second party in the room and his visible eye widened. Blurry or not, Kei recognised that man in a heartbeat. _The shitty kidnapper from the rooftop_. He could feel the other one widened but it was accompanied by a stab of blinding pain. The man couldn't keep the full body grimace hidden and Chino merely smirked.

"Patience was never a virtue of yours. You'll have some good time to execute that now." She meandered over Kei's visible eye tracking her until she knelt in front of him. He kept his breathing even and gaze carefully level.

That is until she extinguished the cigarette on his exposed collar.

The man couldn't keep the scream of pain but of course Chino, ever the damn opportunist, shoved a gag into Kei's mouth that she tightened painfully. Kei glared at her wickedly as his teeth almost took her fingers off, even with the gag.

Chino clicked her tongue in annoyance and backhanded Kei with enough force that his head snapped to the side but not so much that he collapsed to the floor. _This is fucking ridiculous._ He was getting his ass handed to him by a woman half his height. He shouldn't be this useless, this defenceless. But she was clearly a pro. This had either been her plan from day one, or her grudge ran so deep she had a _long_ time to plan. With the way he'd treated her, either option was likely.

Kei closed his eyes with a twisted up expression, dropping his head back again. Guess he had it coming. All he did was piss people off and make enemies by virtue of just _existing_. The way his personality developed definitely didn't do him any favours.

He'd told himself he'd never be helpless, be useless again. Yet here he was. Victim of yet another kidnapping. Unable to save himself. Maybe his father was right. Kei really was....

_Pathetic._

"You know, Tsukishima-san," She hummed pleasantly as she crouched in front of him, a hand gripping the front of his hair to force him to look at her. Chino easily ignored his glowering. "I told myself and Yahiko here I'd cut you up and send you to your father in pristine condition. But," she murmured thoughtfully before her other hand came up and one her damned long nails dug into the cigarette burn.

Kei jerked away but she held him fast in place, easily ignoring his pained cries from behind the gag.

"You deserve to hurt as much as we have." Her expression dropped to something dark that had Kei's inside freezing, the icy tendrils of fear setting off every alarm in his mind. "As much as _I_ have." She tugged him forward harshly, her glossed lips brushing his ear. "You deserve a painful death, Tsukishima Kei."

Letting go of him roughly, Kei's head clipped the window sill, the bandages on the back of his becoming warm with a fresh round of blood as the wounds they'd gone through the trouble of hastily closing reopened. Kei's breathing was sharp and harsh, his visible eye wide with panic. Kei had a good bullshit radar.

And it was telling him Chino was dead serious.

He cursed the bandages over his eye obscuring his vision more than normal because once they were out the room, Kei's panic started visibly mounted.

He'd barely gotten a chance to move though before the other man entered the room again. Yahiko was his name. If looks could kill, Kei's glare would've seen the man murdered 12 different ways from Sunday before he could finish closing the door. Even though they were alone, the shorter blonde looked around hastily. 

Kei's eye narrowed. Not hasty.

_Panicked._

"Look man," he whispered, quickly and quietly walking over until was just a meter or so from Kei. "I can't do this, I just _can't_. She's sick!" He hissed before his gaze stopped swivelling to settle on Kei. "Just about as sick as you are." The accusation was plain and Kei would've spat at him again if it weren't for the blasted gag. "I absolutely _refuse_ to have any part of this shit, I am _not_ helping her fucking," he gestured wildly at Kei. "Dismember you."

Kei figured that's what she was getting at with her mentions of the fridge, but hearing it said so plainly had Kei's stomach plummeting as though he were in a free fall. He always knew there was a chance his kidnappers would follow through on their threats, but everyone before now had been just that. A threat. Chino?

She was a fucking reality. And so was his death that he was being forced to face.

"I can't do that shit. I won't. But," He looked pityingly at Kei and the taller blonde suddenly hated the man all the much more. "She's not gonna let you live mate. I'm so sorry." And to the man's chargin, he did appear genuine but it did him little good in Kei's eyes. "So I've decided to try and make this as painless as possible. I couldn't find any of Chino's guns but I found-"

Kei found he suddenly couldn't hear the man over his deafening pulse. Headache be damned. Because that fucker had just pulled out a _bomb_. 

"I know I know it's scary," he said as though his words would somehow placate Kei and remove the fact that he was telling the blonde he was going to be blown up! Instead of dismembered. "In terms of death this is definitely the better way to go."

Kei was swearing the man up and down, cursing him every way he knew how. Anger was rapidly bleeding into the fear he felt. How dare this man talk to him as though he were doing him a favour. Driven by a sweeping flood of adrenaline, Kei found his legs under him and rushed the man. How was this the same guy who was trembling and scared of holding Kei hostage at knife point??

Kei's shoulder caught the man off guard as he dug it into his stomach and knocking the man back. He broke for the door, acting purely on wild fight or flight driven instinct. But for all it gave you instinct also made you careless.

The man latched onto Kei's ankle and the blonde was suddenly hurtling towards the ground with no hands to catch himself. Kei turned his head to avoid a broken nose and the not bandaged side of his head hit the ground. _Hard._ "Fuck," Kei swore into the gag, breathing hard.

For the first time in a long time, he felt tears burning his eyes. Because Kei was no fool. The man was a realist and he knew.

_I'm going to die here._

"I'm sorry mate." 

Kei's head snapped up and he watched, frozen now with exhaustion laden muscles weighing him down. 

_Move._

He watched the man open his mouth to say something as he pulled out a lighter, but he ultimately decided against saying anything else. What was there to say anyway, to the man you were about to murder.

_Move!_

He watched as the man lit the fuse and threw the bomb into the kitchen before making a hasty exit out the door that Kei only just realised didn't lead out to the hallway. He was in a room further into the apartment. A room that locks from the outside. So even if he could get out of his bonds, out of the _room_ by some miracle of fate, there was no way Kei would make it to the hallway and out of the apartment before the bomb went off.

Kei screwed his eyes shut, the tears sliding down his cheeks of their own accord to gather in the gag. He was going to die here. And no one would notice.

No one would care.

 _MOVE!_ Kei's eyes flew open as the hollering voice in the back of Kei's mind sounded startling more like Kageyama's than his own. 

It was followed by a voice that sounded like his mother's. _Promise me you'll stay strong, Kei-chan._

Kei forced his breathing to slow down, dragging in deep, uneven lungfuls as Akiteru's voice filtered through the depths of his mind.

_Live._

Another surge of adrenaline drove Kei to pull himself off of the floor. _That's right. I can't die. Not until I've proven Danzou killed her and avenge mother. And Akiteru._ Kei managed to stand. _I won't die until I've made his life a living hell._

His gaze locked on the fuse that was rapidly burning down. _Fuck!_ He had to think quickly. Thankfully, where Kei was lacking physically, he more than made up for with his mental capacities. Kei gave several hard tugs and felt the fabric give way but it wasn't enough to free his hands from behind his back. The fact there was any give at all indicated Yahiko had done the binding.

 _Sloppy_. Both Yahiko and Chino. Who knew she'd trust someone so incompetent to do something so important but either way. Kei was thankful for each and every small fucking mercy right now. The extra space allowed Kei to move his hands under his butt - one of the only times he was honest to god _thankful_ for his narrow hips - and slid his hands forward as he knelt and awkwardly and hastily moved his long legs until his hands were back in front of him.

Kei shot back to his feet, tore the gag down, and proceeded to rip the restraints on his wrists to mere _shreds_ with his teeth. Scrambling to the window, Kei had half a mind to throw the bomb out the window but very quickly discarded that thought. No way was he going to be the reason other people died. He almost broke the window with the force he threw it open at, tongue furiously wetting his lower lip before he brought two fingers to his lips.

_You better be listening dammit._

And Kei loosed a _loud_ whistle. It carried the distinct tone Kageyama had unrelentingly hammered into the blonde unerringly across the skyline. 

"KAGEYAMA!"

The explosion shook the building to its very foundations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoyed it any comments, thoughts, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!! Until next time!


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